It depends on what you mean by better. Is Beasley more TALENTED? Sure. Is he a better scorer? Definitely. Is he going to help a team more than Johnson? I highly doubt it. Beasley, at this point, is a one dimensional player who does not do what he is good at all that effectively at the moment. He's going to hurt you on the defensive end and hasn't really adjusted to the NBA, at this point, so is not an efficient scorer at all.

Johnson helps the team on both ends, hustles, rebounds and will improve a team's chances of winning simply by being on the court.

If Beasley fulfills his potential, he can be a 20+/8 player who can create mismatches on offensive and make highlight reels. He'll never be a good defender, though, and I, personally, place as much value on defense as I do on offense. Maybe more. If you have a player who hurts you on one end of the court, he better be damn good on the other end to make up for it. At this point, Beasley doesn't, which is why Miami has been trying to trade him.

agree completely...except, i have no issue taking a flier on a 21-yr old guy with obvious talent who's got something to play for (i.e. a new contract). the idea that he wouldn't be on his 'best behaviour' with whatever team he ends up on this coming season is silly. IMO, his bad rep started at the rookie orientation camp, and since then, his offcourt life has been scrutinized. doesn't help he played in miami, or that he was such a high pick.

bottom line - if BC is adamant about not taking back beasley in a S&T, and it's the ONLY thing that kills a trade, then he's an even bigger idiot than i've assumed all along. hell, if the consensus is that he's a total poison, you still do the deal & either deal him immediately for nothing, or you buy him out (which would be dumb, IMO). BC simply cannot get NOTHING for bosh. believe me, i in no way believe beasley is a guy who'd help the raptors (at least as they're currently constructed - you remove bargs & hedo & replace them with even decent defenders, and it's a different story), but the idea that a deal doesn't get done because of him is silly. fuck all the BS about not wanting to give the heat a better shot at acquiring james, if the 3 of them are adamant about playing together, they'll make it happen one way or the other.

TRUE LOVE - Sometimes you know it the instant you see it across the bar.

I am absolutely fine with this reported deal. Picks are what I want and in particular, our pick since you never now what can happen in four years. I wouldn't mind getting Beasley either but I would actually rather have picks (2 firsts) than Beasley any day of the week. I don't think you'll see anything announced until LBJ decides though. If he says Miami, I think this whole S&T idea goes out the window.

"Victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival."

The Raps have to get their first rounder back. I'm not clear on what the terms of that trade are, but I think it would be a nightmare situation if the Raps played this season out, lost 55 games, and then had a top 5 pick in the hands of a stacked Miami team. That type of situation would set the Raps back another year.

I don't think anything will get finalized until after Lebron's "Decision" tonight.

I love the way LeBron's camp have been suggesting that he hasn't made up his mind yet... like he's going to walk out in front of the ESPN cameras at 9 pm and flip a coin or something. (mind you, that would be hilarious...)

The Raps have to get their first rounder back. I'm not clear on what the terms of that trade are, but I think it would be a nightmare situation if the Raps played this season out, lost 55 games, and then had a top 5 pick in the hands of a stacked Miami team. That type of situation would set the Raps back another year.

The pick is protected, if I'm not mistaken. But yeah, we would eventually lose it, and that would be rough.

I'm on board with not wanting Beasley. If we're trying to rebuild this team the right way, the last thing we need are headcases who can't play defense. The guy has potential to be good, sure. He also has the potential to randomly check into a rehab facility for undisclosed reasons. Furthermore, he would take minutes away from the guys we have at the 4 who play the way we all seemingly want the Raps bigs to play, and seem to be high character guys (Amir and hopefully Ed Davis).

And the notion that we could just flip him again if he doesn't work out is absurd. NO ONE wants this guy right now. Miami has spent the last few weeks trying to give him away for basically nothing, and got no takers. If we took him on and it didn't work out, that would only further decrease his trade value, as it would become evident that Beasley's problems are his own, and not a result of the situation he's been placed in in Miami. At best, we would end up trading him for lesser talent, and we would all be on here complaining about how BC doesn't get fair value in his trades.

I'd much rather avoid the whole potential headache, especially considering he may not actually help that much on the court.

Wasn't Beasley offered to the Nets for Keyon Dooling and the Nets rejected? I thought I remembered reading that somewhere and being surprised by how much teams want to stay away from this guy.

It was a rumor and who knows if it was real or not. I could definitely see Miami trying to trade Beasley for Dooling for his $0.5 mil buyout, of course, but maybe New Jersey thought they had a chance at the big FAs as well and didn't want to add salary either.

The pick is protected, if I'm not mistaken. But yeah, we would eventually lose it, and that would be rough.

It's protected through 2014, so unless we have a lottery pick in 2015, it's not as big a deal as it seems. Or if we make the playoffs in any of the 2011-2014 years, then we lose a #15 through #30 pick.

Doing a S & T for Bosh is one thing, but doing a S & T for Lebron would get you blacklisted in the state of Ohio. Even if he's leaving anyway, you'd be giving the knife a twist in their collective backs.

Doing a S & T for Bosh is one thing, but doing a S & T for Lebron would get you blacklisted in the state of Ohio. Even if he's leaving anyway, you'd be giving the knife a twist in their collective backs.

Yup, that's exactly what I was thinking. S&T for Bosh who may or may not be overpaid on a max contract is fine, but there's no way any team with one of the top 3 players in the league should contemplate the possibility of a S&T. Right now, Cleveland has only 2 things going for them: 1) 6-year deal and 2) home state advantage (?).

Of course, if Miami really, really wanted to get rid of Beasley, I'm sure there's a point at which $3 mil cash + a slew of first round picks would convince someone to clear the remaining space so they have more bargaining power with LBJ, but hopefully that's somewhere between 3 first rounders and first rounders for the next two decades (every other year, of course).

If we can do the S&T for just the two first-rounders (and of course, the TPE credit), that's fine with me.